Each year, the vast majority of Housing Associations registered with the Housing Corporation are obliged to fill in the Regulatory and Statistical Return (RSR). This annual ‘census’ of registered social landlords (RSLs) provides a ‘snapshot of the sector’ and provides vital data for regulatory purposes and for the production of a variety of annual reports. Although it was not collected with this new purpose in mind the data now represent a potentially rich source of information for longitudinal analysis, to give a picture of changes in the sector over an extended period of time.

Dataspring have undertaken a project, funded by the Housing Corporation, to take the RSR data from 1989 to 2004 and construct a time series database which can be used for longitudinal analysis. This undertaking adds considerable value to the data provided by the RSLs. Enabling time series analysis of the RSR data can provide evidence for past trends as well as for planning future scenarios. The database exists at present in two parts. The first contains data from 1989 to 2001. Due to the changes made to data collection from 2002 onwards, a new time series has in effect been started so a second database has been constructed for data from 2002 to 2004. Data from the 2005 RSR will be added to this database in the near future. Selected key variables can be tracked across the two time series. They can be analysed by RSL size and type at local authority and regional level.

Using these data we can see that while total rental stock numbers have trebled between 1989 and 2004, there are 12% fewer RSLs by 2004. Further analysis by RSL type shows the dramatic change in the profile of the sector that has taken place since 1989. In 1989 Mixed Funded RSLs accounted for 56% of all RSLs and owned 94% of all stock, while Almshouses and Abbeyfield RSLs accounted for 42% of all RSLs and owned 3% of all stock. By 2004 Mixed Funded RSLs accounted for 52% of all RSLs and the Almshouses and Abbeyfield RSLs accounted for 35% of all RSLs. The LSVT RSLs that had only just started to be formed in 1989, accounted for 10% of all RSLs by 2004. In terms of stock numbers, the MF RSLs share of stock had fallen to 57% by 2004, while the Almshouses and Abbeyfield RSls accounted for just over 1%. LSVT RSLs accounted for 41%.